Time After Mad, Mad Time
by ChristinaDawn
Summary: Time is not always on our side, as Alice has found out. Years of being at its mercy has made her as mad as her hatter. When she is able to break the cycle, will she be able to find her way back? M for later content. OC character involved.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"_Catch a falling star and put in your pocket _

_never let it fade away. _

_Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket _

_save it for a rainy day."_

Alice stared at the window to the small garden within her view. She sang the tune in a whisper to herself, imagining the brightness of her pocket should a star be tucked away in there. She smiled at the thought. Would it be hot? Would it glow? Would she be able to bring it with her?

Her gaze moved from the white flowers of the garden to her reflection in the glass. It was faint, but she could see the dark circles under her eyes and how her long blonde hair hung limply around the hollows of her cheekbones.

"This will not do," she said aloud to the room. "It's the hour for tea and I look horrible." Alice turned away from the window and moved over to the bureau and picked up her hairbrush. Running the bristles through her hair she locked on her gaze in the mirror. "Alice you are all wrong," she yelled at herself. The young woman leaned forward into her reflection, fed up and angry. "You are not the right Alice. Too tall. Too small. Not right at all."

She laughed at her rhyme. "Alice, you are completely mad. Mad. Miserable. Melancholy. Morose. Moping..."

A knock on the door of her room stopped Alice from her rant on the letter M. A small smile touched her lips as she walked over to it. She knew who it was and why he was there. Always prompt, he was.

"Miss Kingsley," inquired a voice on the other side. "It's the hour for tea."

Alice opened the door to the young man on the other side. "Mr. Whittaker. Prompt as always," she said, any traces of her anger or madness gone.

Alex smiled in return and offered her his arm. "Miss Kingsley, tea is the highlight of my day, you know."

"It is for me as well, Mr. Whittaker. Especially on such a wonderful English day as this is to take tea in the garden. I think I actually saw the sun at one point today."

Alex chuckled as he led the young lady down the short hallway to the garden doors. "Sun in England is a rarity for sure. When I moved here from California everyone warned me that I would be leaving the sun as well as the state. I thought for sure it was an exaggeration." He opened the doors for Alice, letting her walk ahead of him towards their usual seat among the flowers.

The tea set was already laid out with a plate of sweets. Alice smiled as he held the chair out for her and took the teapot. "I managed to bring in my own tea today instead of the usual sludge they try to pawn off on us here, Miss Kingsley. I hope you'll enjoy this." He poured out the tea and waited until she sweetened it and took a sip, looking at Alice for her approval.

She took the drink and inhaled the sweet and heady aroma of the herbs. "A perfect blend indeed, Mr. Whittaker. I daresay that this has to be the best I have had in a very, very long while." Alice closed her eyes, momentarily taken far away in her mind from this garden to....to...somewhere far better. She sighed as she opened her eyes and watched Alex.

"Mr. Whittaker...Thank you for this. I very much appreciate all that you do to...humour me in this."

Alex looked up from where he was pouring his own cup and nodded. "You're welcome, Miss Kingsley. And don't think I'm simply humouring you. I do this for myself as well," he smiled, sharing a conspiratorial smile. "I could be tucked away in my office all day flooded by paperwork. This gives me a chance to escape. "

Alice nodded, taking a small cake off of the plate and biting into it. Cafeteria food, she thought with a hint of a scowl. Unlike the tea which was full of promise, the sweets dropped Alice into the dank reality. She looked up at the building where they came out of. She could see her first floor room not far from where they sat.

The three-storey building was outside of London, far away to almost be considered countryside. While the signage on the door out front claimed it was a clinic, Alice knew it was the right place for her. A looney bin. A quack hut. A mental institution.

"A mad house, Mr. Whittaker. You have to be one of the lucky ones to escape this place. And yet you come out here day after day when we can and offer me a tea party. Which one of us is the clinically insane?"


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for your kind words. It is greatly appreciated! Add in the usual disclaimer of I own nothing but my own O/C.

Chapter 2

Alex leaned forward, lacing his fingers together. Alice was one of his favourite patients in the clinic. He had a genuine professional interest in her case and in her condition. Her age was listed as 23 with a birth date of March 3rd. She was brought in one day six years before by someone who found her sitting in a park under a tree during a particularly harsh rainstorm. They were unable to locate any next of kin based on the information she was able to provide.

Alex had been at the clinic for nearly a year and was assigned to Alice six months into his stay. He was raised in a loving family in California and was in his third year at Berkley when his parents and sister were killed in a car crash. Left with no other family, Alex became dedicated to his craft and when presented with an opportunity to work in England, eagerly jumped at the chance to run away from his own past and emotions.

Since he met Alice, he wondered if this was his own learning lesson. By helping her solve her delusions, he could put to rest his own.

Time was Alice's issue. When she first began to speak to anyone at the clinic, it was about time. The ticking of clocks, looking at a digital or analogue would drive her to tears or fits of rage. Over the course of her stay, the use of the word time was kept at a very minimum. No one had found out why. Alex felt he was starting to crack her exterior.

"Alice, you're not insane. You know I don't believe you are," he said with all honesty. "Maybe we just need to learn more about your...situation?"

Alice leaned back. Alex was really the first of the doctors who listened to her without that presumptuous and pompous know it all auras. Maybe this was the way they were moulding the shrinks of the day, she thought. After all, she had been in these institutes long enough. Would it hurt? Would he laugh and stop their conversations? She didn't think so. He was the first person she truly felt comfortable with since....

Alice sat back in her chair, regarding Alex as though sizing him up. He sat up straight, giving her his best "at attention" pose he could. With a sigh, she nodded. "You will either believe me or you will look for new ways of treatments. Probably more pills as that is how most doctors seem to cure illnesses these days, Mr. Whittaker. Though it numbs the soul, it is far better treatment than what I've received in the past.

"What if I were to tell you, Mr. Whittaker, that I am actually 174 years old and that I have been in this institution or another since 1857?"

Alex cocked an eyebrow and shook his head. "Honestly, Alice? I would want to know your skin care regime they let you have here so that we could market it to the world," he said with a chuckle. "But honestly, I wouldn't know where to start with that. What makes you think that you're that old?"

"Because that's how old I am. To you time goes on. You are born, you live, and you die. For me, Time is playing with my mind, my soul and worst of all my heart. I have started my life over, never ending, never being happy, all because Time is playing a cruel game, Mr. Whittaker. "

Alice's face was flushed. The words had come out so fast and she was afraid it was like throwing a rock at mirror and everything would shatter in front of her. She searched Alex's face for any sign that he was ready to have her locked up and heavily medicated. But instead, he nodded and indicated for her to go on.

"No one seems to remember me being here before. But some of the older staff...I remember them from when they first started. Mrs. Bledell in the cafeteria or Dr. Jones...he was there one time when I was admitted in the 1960's. Time erases what it wants and leaves me to remember everything. Each time I start life over, I know it. I know everything I have lived through before. Do you know how shock therapy feels, Mr. Whittaker? I do. In 1947 they thought it would right my mind. It didn't. In fact it drove me over the edge."

"Alice. Do you believe that you have lived one life staying the same age, or when you say you start over again, you...?"

"Meaning that one day I go to sleep at age 40 and wake up at 21 being brought back to another institution by the authorities. "

"You...time travel?"

Alice started to laugh. She could feel the trust shattering just then. How could she have thought he would believe her? Hearing herself explain it, she would even believe that she was insane. She picked up her teacup and threw it away from them, watching as it hit the stone walkways, bouncing along its plastic way. "What is a Mad Tea Party if you can't break the china properly? Mad Tea Parties should not have plastic china. Tea Parties are supposed to be wonderfully loud and chaotic events, Mr. Whittaker."

Alice's face dropped into her hands as she started to cry. She shook her head. "I've ruined it all...ruined it all..."

Alex took a tissue from his pocket and walked over to Alice, handing it to her. "Miss Kingsley, you haven't ruined anything. Maybe a perfectly good cup of tea that was still in there, though," he said, going over to pick up the cup. "House rules, you know. No good china allowed. At least it's not Styrofoam."

Alice wiped her tears, nodding and trying to manage a smile. "One of these days you should see how a real tea party is thrown. I think you would like it. I would like to go back to my room now, Mr. Whittaker, please?"

Alex, though wanting to ask more about this new revelation of Alice, could see that pushing any more might ruin things from his side, too. A doctor-patient trust was something he could not, would not, break at this point in their relationship. He offered Alice his arm and walked her back inside the clinic. She held a grace that most of the other patients lacked, or, heck, what most of today's society lacked. Believing she was from the last century could easily create that characteristic in her day to day life.

She wore the same outfits most of the day patients were offered; Yoga style long pants with t-shirts and a zip up yoga style jacket. She had proven that she was of no harm to herself, only insistent that no clocks or other time pieces be in her room and that she could look out over the garden in the back. Physically, she was a striking woman who could turn many heads, though she often kept to herself in her room, coming out periodically for group therapy and meals.

And yet, she now professed to be from a different time, leaping through the ages and living over and over again; in this institute for some of those very lives. Her case just became all that more intriguing to him.

At her door, Alex stood back. "Miss Kingsley, do get some rest, okay? I'll be back in two days for our next tea. I promise."

Alice hung her head low, looking up at him. She felt as though she finally bore what was left of her mind and soul to someone she could trust. If she lost him now, she knew there would be no going back from her madness. "Mr. Whittaker, don't give up on me...please?"


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Ask and ye shall receive...and I can only wish to own a portion of Underland...

Chapter 3

Yesterday's tea ran through Alex's head over and over again. Not only was time out to get Alice, but she also believed that she was being targeted by it and made to live for a long time. It was early morning, long before most of the staff started their shifts, but Alex felt he needed more time to go over his conversation.

Clocks and time he could understand. But this was as though Alice believed it to be a person who could physically assault her.

And the fact that she claims to have been here before? Just as puzzling. Why would a time travelling delusion bring her back to an institution instead of somewhere grander?

And none of this added up to the profile he had put together for Alice. She was proving to be more curious by the day. A thought crossed Alex's mind. He'd be as crazy as his own patients if he followed through on it, but he needed to figure Alice out.

Heading out of his office, he waved to some of the early morning orderlies as he headed to the basement and the patient files.

* * *

_Tick_

_Tock_

_Tick_

_Tock_

_Tick_

_Tock_

_Tarrant_

_Hightopp_

_Tarrant_

_Hightopp_

_Alice ran through the remains of Tugley Wood. Charred trees collapsed on the ground creating a carpet of ash as she moved over them. The stems of flowers which used to guide or scold her lay heaped together in a silent pile. _

_Overhead she heard the ticking of a clock and a singsong voice through the smoky sky. Time was about. Time was the cause of the chaos and death around her feet. Though the fire was deadened, the smell of smoke was strong and filled her nostrils until they burned. And still she moved on, racing to the clearing. Running to where she prayed he would be safe._

_Tick_

_Tock_

_Tick_

_Tock_

_Tick_

_Tock_

_Tarrant_

_Hightopp_

_Tarrant_

_Hightopp_

"_Alice, dear...you're too late. Too late to help any of them," the voice said, close behind her. _

_Alice stopped, her breath coming fast as she turned. Behind her stood a stately, almost grandfatherly man dressed in white with long white hair pulled back in a queue. The first instance that they met, Alice thought him kind and trusting, as most of her friends in Underland. Then she found out he could be as cruel as Iracebeth or Stayne._

"_You've been always so tardy to tea parties, Alice. This time," he chuckled, "It proved to be a downfall for everyone involved. Do you know how they cried and begged for mercy before I burned them down?"_

_Alice, rooted in her spot shook her head. "You lie...you have always lied. Mirana would never have let you go this far." _

_Time reached behind his back and tossed another grey-black charred item at her feet. He watched in amusement as Alice bent down to pick up the remains of the Hatter's top hat. "No," she whispered as a breeze moved past her, turning the remains to dust and she was left with nothing but soot on her hands. _

"_Ah...you are right, dear Alice. This isn't real...yet. But I tire of our game. I tire of taking the effort to use you. Hightopp pays once and for all for the troubles he has caused me. I'm coming for you, dear, so that you can see this happen for yourself."_

_With a wave of his hand, Time restored the Wood, flowers and animals filled it. Alice watched as a vision of herself, armed with a torch set fire first to the flowers, laughing at their screams, and then to the trees and animals. _

"_When I come for you, you won't be able to stop me from making you do this. Wake up, Alice. Time is wasting away..."_

* * *

Alex worked his way through the cabinets, thanking whatever anal idiot had thought to put together patient listings since the opening of the clinic. An anal but brilliant of person who thought of keeping them on site instead of archiving them with an outside company and allowing a doctor losing his own mind to sort through them, he though wryly.

Still done in the current day, a picture and detailed report of the patient for that year were kept. It was a sick and twisted version of the clinic's year book.

He knew the years he was looking for. Dr. Jones started at the clinic in 1968 and Alice had mentioned 1947 along with shock therapy. He shuddered at the very thought of the Alice he knew going through that kind of treatment. He opened the cabinet for '68 first. There were quite a number of patients to go through, figuring those who tried one too many mind enhancing drugs to "enlighten" themselves.

Filed alphabetically, he was beginning to appreciate whoever had taken this time. Kingham, Kingshum...Kingsley comma A. Alex's fingers gripped the top of the report, feeling his pulse race in his throat. It wasn't possible, he thought, working up the nerve to pull the report out. The rational part of his mind told him to open it, see that the file was for someone else entirely and move on with his day. And yet.... he tucked the file under his arm, closed the cabinet and moved on to '47. The files were fewer and it took no time to find a faded folder for Kingsley, A.

Sweat began to bead on Alex's head. He was heading towards the work table in the room when an orderly came through the door. "Dr. Whittaker? You're needed upstairs. It's your patient, Alice Kingsley. There's a problem."

* * *

Alex paused long enough in his jog to Alice's room to toss the files on his desk. Even from there, he could hear hysterical cries and wails. He knocked on the door once before entering Alice's room and motioning for the orderly to stay behind. Her room appeared empty, but filled with her sobs.

It was his first time in her room and Alex wished he had more time to look around. Unlike the other day patient rooms on this floor, this one had no television or radio, but a desk full of books from the clinic library and one wall covered in colourful drawings. Flowers with faces, a white castle, tea pots and an odd character with a mess of red hair and a hat dotted the wall. This was something for another tea time conversation, though.

"Alice? It's Doctor Whittaker." Alex moved further into the room, around the bed. Alice was curled up the foetal position, her hair matted to her face with the tears. He moved towards her slowly, saying her name until she turned to look at him. Her blue eyes were rimmed with red and framed by darker circles. H e frowned with concern as he reached for her, lifting her in his arms to place her back on her bed.

Alice backed up against the headboard, her body still shaking with sobs which had since quieted down. She held her hands out to Alex, shaking her head. "We're too late, Mr. Whittaker. We're too late."

Alex looked down at her hands. They were covered in black ash. "Alice. What have you gotten in to?"

* * *

Deep in the woods under the cover of the trees, a blur of white streaked through the bush. Time was of the essence, it always was his priority. Though some around here did not give time or Time its due, for him it was life itself.

In this case, all their lives seemed to matter.

Nivens McTwisp pushed through the last grouping of trees before coming across the odd, crooked house which gave backdrop to an even odder tea party. The White Rabbit, messenger to the White Queen was never late for tea, and never late for an appointment.

He dodged a flying saucer and cup as he made his way to the head of the table. "The White Queen has found her. Time is of the essence. We need to act now," he said, leaning against the chair as he caught his breath.

The Dormouse dozing in a cup sat up, her eyes wide and ears perked. The March Hare pulled his eyes away from gazing at the spoon to look at their host in the large chair. They waited with baited breath.

Beneath the shadow of a tall top hat, bright green eyes with a tinge of red came to life. The bright crimson lips curled in a smile that spoke of madness, purpose and glee. He stood without a word, leaning down to take up his sword and moved it in his hands to watch the blade catch the sun's rays.

Before any could react, the Mad Hatter set off at a running pace towards Marmoreal, his friends scurrying in his wake.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Sorry this will not be as complete of a chapter as I had hoped. R/L got in the way this past week putting a stop to updates. I promise I have an answer for Alice in time and the next chapter is the one I have been itching to write since I started. Thank you for sticking with this!

P.S. I own nothing except for the uber naughty thoughts of Tarrant which plague my sleep patterns ;-)

Chapter 4

Alex sat at his desk, wondering just what the hell had gone on in Alice's room. In one day he had not seen a once semi-stable patient degrade in mental health so quickly. From her hysterics over whatever ash she got on her hands, the young woman had began babbling madly about Wonderland and fire and then ceased to speak. She mentally moved inwards and refused to respond.

Wonderland, as in Alice in Wonderland, he figured; A child's story which she placed herself into, though it simply did not fit the profile of her mental state when he took her case. Though it would make some sense of the drawings hanging on her room walls; she was creating her own Wonderland. Alex could have kicked himself for not seeing her room sooner. Sometimes the personal sanctuary of a patient spoke louder than any counselling sessions.

His hands swept across the front of the two files he still had sitting on his desk. With this new revelation, did he even want to look at these folders anymore? Did he want to dive into her madness as well by even entertaining the idea?

Alex looked around his own sparsely decorated office. Behind him was a bookshelf with the mandatory family photo from his high school graduation and text books. The rest of the room...said nothing about him. And he figured that since he came here with nothing other than ghosts, that this was the room that suited him. Painted in blue, the walls had no paintings and only one small window overlooking the parking lot.

Grabbing the top file from the 40's, Alex took a deep breath and opened the flap, ready for what he already knew he would find inside. Albeit the woman in the photo was at least 10 years older, but Alex had spent enough time with her to know. They were the same blue eyes looking up at him, looking lost and lonely and wanting anyone to hear her out.

Alice Kingsley either had distinct heritage or was telling the truth.

* * *

In the white halls of Marmoreal, Mirana the White Queen welcomed her newcomers to her potions room. She was already preparing for what they would need to finally bring Alice back to Underland, away from Time's influence.

"I will not bore you with the details," she said in greeting to Tarrant as he stood in front of her, expecting an immediate answer. "I have been able to locate when in her world Alice is. The importance is to keep Time otherwise occupied while we escort her to Underland."

"Given the chance, my lady," Tarrant responded in a voice which was soft and menacing at the same time, "I will gladly stop Time altogether." One hand moved to the hilt of his sword which was visible at his jacket's edge, ready to fight and ready to take down his nemesis once and for all. The other betrayed his worry as his bandaged fingers clenched and unclenched, keeping a time of their own.

Mirana nodded, but held a hand up to stop him while she added herbs to a pot in front of her. "There is no doubt that there will be a moment we will have to face that Tarrant. For now I need you here with me. My Knights have gone to the sand's edge of the Outlands to surround where we believe Time has moved to. This leaves Marmoreal defenceless for her return."

Mallymkun scrambled to the top of the table Mirana was working while Thackery held back from teh group, momentarily entranced by his reflection in the back of his spoon. "You highness," Mallymkun said, moving forward, "it would be my pleasure to fight for the protection of your kingdom."

Mirana smiled at her smallest of soldiers knowing she was as formidable as her bravest of knights. "I thank you. Tarrant, we're ready. Nivens and Chess are at my Looking Glass. We will be able to get Alice through from there."

The White Queen leaned back as she added the last of the ingredients to her spell and cast it off, certain this time it would work. This time she would heal all of their hearts.

* * *

In the Outlands, Time stood in his study, a large room filled with clocks, sundials and hourglasses. Here he controlled everything. Upperland. Underland. Everything in between. His own palace, one made of the strongest of stones, stood high above the desert sand, cast no shadows on the ground below. There the sun stood high, always at noon. The palace was shaped like an hourglass with the base housing his throne room and chambers and the top his study and Great Room.

Time was at his whim and will. When he felt like slowing a mortal's workday down, he would, simply to please himself out of boredom. He would speed up a special moment between two lovers simply to take that time away. Oh he did so much to spite others. But his greatest endeavour was that of the Hightopp and his Champion.

He had watched Alice destroy the Jabberwocky and save Underland from the Red Queen's rule. Not that Iracebeth had any rule over Time, so her banishment was nothing more than a new neighbour. But what had intrigued him was seeing Hightopp's reaction to the girl's departure. In that moment, which he played over again and again, he saw his nemesis' heart sink. Oh certainly the girl said she was going to come back and Time did not doubt she was going to keep her word. But it was that one moment that set Time's plan into action.

And now it was going to come to an end. He was tired of moving Alice around. Mirana and Hightopp spent too much time finding her and were close on more than one occasion. Now it was time to finish this and bring the Hightopp to his knees. Alice would simply have to die.

In that moment and in that thought Time felt a shift in Underland. A strong magic was being used and could only have one source. The White Queen was going to attempt to take his token once again. Time raced out of his study, heading to his Great Room. It was there that he controlled the very essence and balance of these worlds.

The Great Room was of the finest polished stone which seemed to have no seam from floor to wall to ceiling. The ceiling itself opened up to the sky and from that opening a pendulum hung, rocking back and forth, keeping time to the second. It was from here that Time controlled lives and worlds, the passing of days, seasons and age.

It was from here he felt the first rocking explosion outside. He did not need to look outside to know that row after row of perfect chess pieces marched into the Outlands towards his hold. Time moved towards the pendulum with quick steps, already calling upon the time and place where Alice was. "Try, Mirana. You will fail yet again."


End file.
